heat of the moment
I may have--but I can do no more than ask your pardon------"

"I don't care a thraneen," said Doyle, "what you called me, and I'll
give you leave to call me that and more every day of the week if you see
your way to get the L100 out of the American gentleman."

"I can't do that," said Dr. O'Grady, "but I have a proposal to lay
before the meeting which I think will get us out of our difficulty."

CHAPTER XVI

"Let you speak out," said Doyle, "and if so be that you're not asking us to pay up----"

"I think we may take it for granted, gentlemen," said Dr. O'Grady, "that
if we produce a creditable statue for the Lord-Lieutenant to unveil and
give him a really gratifying illuminated address----"

"The statue and the illuminated address would be all right," said Doyle,
"if there was any way of paying for them."

"And a bouquet," said Dr. O'Grady; "and a good luncheon. If we do all
that and make ourselves generally agreeable by means of Mary Ellen and
in other ways the Lord-Lieutenant couldn't very well refuse to give us a
grant of Government money to build a pier."

"It's likely he'd give it," said Father McCormack, "it's likely enough
that he'd give it--if we----"

"He couldn't well not," said Doyle, "after us giving him a lunch and
all."

"If so be," said Gallagher, "that he was to refuse at the latter end
we'd have questions asked about him in Parliament; and believe you me
that's what he wouldn't like. Them fellows is terrible afraid of the
Irish Members. And they've a good right to be, for devil the finer set
of men you'd see anywhere than what they are. There isn't a thing
goes wrong in the country but they're ready to torment the life out of
whoever might be responsible for the man that did it."

"Very well," said Dr. O'Grady. "Now do we want a pier?"

"We want the money," said Doyle.

"I don't know," said Father McCormack, "could we get the money without
we'd build a pier when we'd got it."

"My point is," said Dr. O'Grady, "that the pier itself, the actual stone
structure sticking out into the sea, being no particular use to any one
once it's built----"

"It'd be a public nuisance," said the Major.

"We can do very well with an inferior kind of pier," said Dr. O'Grady.
"What I mean to say is we might spend a little less than we're actually
given."

"What about the inspector they'd send down?" said Doyle.

"Them inspectors," said Gallagher, "is as thick about the count